In semiconductor technologies, image sensors are used for sensing a volume of exposed light projected towards a semiconductor substrate. Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors (CIS) and charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors are widely used in various applications such as digital still camera applications. These devices utilize an array of pixels or image sensor elements, including photodiodes and transistors, to collect photo energy to convert images into electrical signals. To enhance the photo-sensing efficiency of the pixels, a back-side illumination (BSI) technique may be used to fabricate the image sensors. The BSI technique utilizes a technique known as wafer bonding, which involves thinning a device wafer and bonding it to a carrier wafer. The wafer bonding technique has also been used to produce other types of semiconductor devices such as three-dimensional structure integrated circuits (ICs). However, current methods of wafer bonding may cause damage to the device wafer or the carrier wafer, or otherwise contaminate the wafers with undesired particles that would make the thinning or bonding processes less effective.